


Friends Just Sleep in Other Beds

by howdoyouusername



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Asexual Castiel, Asexual Character, BAMF Lisa, Best Friends, Cuddling, Fluff, IDEK where this is going, M/M, Mute Castiel, dean is a dumbass, fingers crossed, selective mutism, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-04 03:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2908286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howdoyouusername/pseuds/howdoyouusername
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas and Dean are best friends. Cas wants more, but not as much as Dean would want if they were together.</p><p>First attempt at a longer fic, so bear with me!</p><p>(Title from Friends by Ed Sheeran)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Think fast!"

Castiel barely dodges Dean's duffle bag as it sails through the doorway. The owner stretches out on Castiel's bed. 

"Hey, babes." Charlie flounces in, followed by a distinctively less cheery Jo. 

Jo immediately flops face-first across Dean's lap. 

"What's up, Joey?" Dean's big brother kicks in as he runs his fingers through the blond hair spilling across Cas's pillows. 

"She's mad that I beat her at Halo before we came." Charlie said smugly.

"I'm mad you cheated!" Jo's voice was muffled.

"Hey, ya'll. Brought pizzas." Benny Lafitte and his girlfriend, Lisa Braeden, enter with one duffle bag and quite a few pizza boxes. 

Jo sits up, grabs a box off the top and lies back down, this time with her head in Dean's lap. 

"Wait, could you possibly help me move in the mattresses before we eat?" Castiel asked, trying not to be too pushy. To his relief, Benny passes his things to Lisa with a quick peck on the cheek, and Dean disentangles himself from Jo--thankfully without the kiss.

When the extra mattresses are brought from the storeroom and lain in the floor, the girls swoon sarcastically. 

"Whatever would we do without these big, strong men?" Jo croons at Dean, while Lisa hangs on Benny's arm and gives an overly-wistful, "I don't know, Joey!"

"You could just date girls..." Charlie's comment under her breath makes Castiel burst into laughter, breaking the girls' act. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After everyone has their fill of pizza, the dog pile is arranged on Castiel's bed to watch a movie. 

Dean has his back against the headboard, with Cas one one side and Charlie on the other. Charlie is lying down, Jo curled around her, their legs entwined. Benny is reclining on Jo's legs, Lisa's head on his chest. 

"What did you pick?" When it came to movies, it was really hit or miss with Dean. He would either hate it with a passion or talk about it for weeks. He had fallen in love with the original "Annie" but had simply made disgusted faces whenever anyone asked if he enjoyed the new version. 

"Some old psychological thriller, guy at the store recommended it." Dean looks over at Cas, their shoulders bumping. "Is that okay?" 

"I'm sure it will be fine, Dean." Dean cracks a grin.

"Perfect! Now, you know if it gets too scary for you, you've got me to protect you!" Dean winks as their friends voices overlap in "Cut him some slack!" 

Dean just laughs and taps Castiel's thigh with the back of his hand. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel really shouldn't have agreed so readily. 

The suspenseful music has Cas on edge, and he just knows that little zombie girl was going to get someone. He's basically molded into Dean at this point, so closely are they laying now. The music gets more suspenseful and Cas gets more anxious. The music swells and spikes and-

"Whoa, buddy, you okay?" Dean sounds concerned but Cas can't see his face because his own is buried in Dean's shoulder. He's turned completely on his side now, one leg thrown in between Dean's. 

"Do you want me to make an excuse, cut it off?" Dean's voice is so low in Castiel's ear he can barely hear him. Cas shakes his head minutely. "Want help getting through it?" Cas nods.

Dean pulls his arm out from under Cas and wraps it around him, letting his hand rest between his friend's shoulder blades. He tucks Cas's head under his chin and pulls his hand to twine with his own on his chest. 

"Better?" Cas nods. "You can turn your head in to me if you want." Cas nods and squeezes Dean's hand. 

Dean squeezes back. 

```````````````````````

Cas is woken up by girls' giggles and Benny's smooth drawl. 

"You comfortable, brother?" More giggles. 

"Very, actually. You asshats done with that stupid movie yet?" Dean answered for Cas without even looking up. 

"Yeah, we're gonna go to bed. Thought ya'll might want to get under the covers before you got to any more bases."

"Fuck off, I'm not moving." Dean's chest breaks into a bark of laughter, surprised at Castiel's cursing. 

He shifts out from under Cas and slips his arms under his prone figure. "Charlie, pull the covers back? Thanks, babe." Cas is set on the cool sheets. The worn fabric feels like silk under his tired fingers. He slips back into the edges of unconsciousness as his friends settle on the mattresses on the floor. 

Dean slips into the bed and shakes his shoulder. Cas is much too tired to answer. His muscles refuse to move after the beating they took with all the stress chemicals from the beginning of the movie.

"Are you already asleep? Damn." Dean chuckles and slides up closer to Cas. "Good night, then, Casanova." 

Dean tucks a leg between Castiel's and presses a kiss to his forehead. 

Cas last thought before sleep completely takes him is "Well, I'm fucked."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I think Cas is selectively mute... He only talks when he's completely comfortable in his surroundings, and when he wants.

Castiel wakes up slowly. He becomes aware of the sounds of the room first, the slow breathing of his friends a comforting soundtrack. He shifts and feels the sheets under him and the pillow beneath his face. The next thing his sleep-addled brain registers, though, sends his calm out the window and his pulse skyrockets.

Dean is pressed against his back. Castiel thinks through the haze of panic that it's actually quite nice, comfortable, to have Dean's furnace-like warmth behind him. And around him, as Dean seems to have thrown an arm over Cas in the night. 

Cas shifts, trying to get Dean's arm off of him. This cannot happen, Dean is very much straight and wouldn't want Castiel even if he were attracted to boys. Dean has made it clear that he doesn't do relationships, just sex. He goes through multiple girls a month for just that. It's not as if he sleeps with them and just never calls; the girls know what their signing up for. The only girl he'd ever really dated had been Lisa, but, despite the "awesome" sex life he loved to tell Castiel about, they decided to split and remain friends. And they really had. Dean had had nothing but congratulations when he found out she was dating one of his best friends. 

Even if Dean wanted Cas, Cas couldn't give Dean what he needed. Cas couldn't give Dean the sex he obviously requires because Castiel is asexual. Not to say that he doesn't want Dean, but he wants to cuddle and hold hands and go on cheesy dates. They're just not compatible, so Cas has given up. Some might take Dean's advances as flirting, but everyone in their social circle knows that Dean is a bit of a closeted cuddleslut. So Cas continues his attempts to evade Dean to spare his own dignity. 

Dean slides his hand to the middle of Cas's chest and hums, vibrating through Castiel's chest. His breath catches and his pulse quickens even more. Dean contracts his hand a bit on his chest, shifts it to cover the heart about to beat out of it.

"Knew you were awake." And God, Dean really shouldn't talk in the mornings. "Shh, go back to sleep. You need it." 

Castiel allowed Dean's voice and hands and warmth to lull him back to sleep against his better judgement.

He knows it's not real, Dean doesn't love him, but why should that mean he can't pretend?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the second time that day, Cas wakes up to laughing. This time it's just Lisa--everyone else is still asleep. 

"And you guys give Benny and I crap for being 'disgustingly adorable'!" Lisa gently sits next to Cas. "Really, when are you guys going to announce the wedding date?"

"Platonic touch, my friend. Means nothing. Like our entire relationship." Dean's voice still sounds like gravel from sleep and Cas's heart might just stop if he keeps talking. 

"Ha ha, very funny, Winchester. Now get your ass up and go get breakfast!" Lisa punches Dean's shoulder before tumbling haphazardly into the middle of Jo and Charlie's bed. 

Dean, however, pulls the blanket over their heads and wraps his arm back around Castiel, tucking a hand under his stomach.

As the girls wake up, it get steadily louder in Castiel's bedroom until the girls convince Benny to go get breakfast for them. He leaves with a light hearted kick to the bedframe. 

The girls get quieter, their voices dropping to whispers before cutting out altogether. Dean breathes a sigh into Castiel's spine, his relief apparent and he relaxes into the mattress and Castiel. 

Cas, however, has sisters and knows better than to take silence as a positive thing in a room full of girls.

"What the fuck?!" Their bed is now covered in giggling, bouncing girls. Charlie takes her spot wedged between Dean and Cas, he hands behind her head and her ankles crossed. Jo snuggles up to Dean's other side, her head on his chest and his arm around her shoulders. Lisa daintily slides under the covers as well, on her side facing Cas with a playful smirk. 

"Good morning, bitches!" Charlie stretches impossibly further, showing her dominance as the monarch.

"All hail the queen." Castiel mutters sarcastically, making Lisa grin. She opens her mouth to say something but Cas pats the bed once and snaps his fingers. 

"Dog?" Lisa guesses. "You need to take the dog out?" Cas nods and smiles at her. "Mind if I walk with you?" Cas nods and they walk outside, getting an overly-excited mutt out of her kennel on the way. The little dog shoots across the yard as Cas and Lisa sit on the garden wall.

Cas is so lost in his thoughts he almost doesn't hear Lisa's concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh. Yes." Castiel can't really articulate the fact that he's an asexual in love with his straight, borderline-nymphomaniac best friend. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine. You've spoken less than usual last night and this morning." She rubs a hand up his forearm. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me. There's just a lot of people in my bedroom. I'm fine." Cas makes the mistake of looking at Lisa and her honest worry breaks him. 

"Please, Cas. Does it have to do with Dean?"

"Well... yes. I, uhm..." Lisa takes Castiel's hand as he struggles for words. "I think I, I like him."

"Doll, you see how much he touches you. Take it from me, that means something."

"It means Dean is a cuddleslut and you know it."

"Cas, I think if you went for this he would be right there with you. I dated him, and no matter what he says, it was real while it lasted. I think he might even love you, baby." Lisa squeezes his hand. "And I know damn well you're not gonna let this slip by, are you?"

"Lisa, I can't give Dean what he needs." Cas hedges and chews his lip.

"What do you mean? You're enough for him, I promise."

"No, Lisa, I'm not-- please, let me say this-- I'm, well, asexual." He decides saying it outright is the easiest path. "I'm not sexually attracted to anyone, I don't want sex. I just want to date. Which is the thing Dean doesn't do." 

"Cas, honey--"

"I don't need to worry about this, do I?" Benny's good-natured chuckle pulls them out of their conversation. "I got biscuits."

"We're talking about this later." Lisa's scary-voice startles Castiel into nodding before he can think twice. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After breakfast, they play a few rounds of Halo (which Charlie wins) on Cas's tube television (which Charlie complains about incessantly). 

Lisa and Castiel sit cross-legged on Cas's bed, the only ones not invested in the video game tournament on the floor. Lisa understands Cas's selective mutismbetter than most, and she's taken to keeping pens and paper with her. They're passing her notebook back and forth now, with vague conversation about their earlier topic scrawled down nearly an entire page.

"Man, I'm out." Dean hands his controller off to Charlie, much to everyone else's dismay, to flop across the bed, his head landing in Cas's lap. 

"Ugh, these graphics!" Charlie complains, again. "It looks like shit."

Dean tilts his head back and grins cheekily up at Cas. "Looks pretty good from here, Char." His smile softens and he blushes under his freckles. 

Cas gathers his wits enough to sign, "and" "I" to Dean. He grins a dopey smile up at Cas.

When Lisa coughs, Cas's head snaps up to see Charlie looking at them curiously. Cas clears his throat and sits up to watch the game. Which is much less interesting than counting Dean's freckles. After a moment, Dean reaches up and takes Cas's hand and leads it to his head. Cas begins running his fingers through the cropped sand colored hair. Dean's breathing has slowed and his face has relaxed so much Cas almost thinks he's asleep.

"Brother, don't you have a, ah, prior engagement you should be heading to?" Dean's eyes shoot open. Cas's hand pauses halfway in his hair.

"What time is it?" Dean asks. When Benny rattles of the time from his phone, Dean shoots straight up. "Shit!"

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Lisa has her hands on her hips. Dean looks bashful, and yeah, maybe a bit scared of his ex girlfriend, and speaks.

"I have a date. With Cassie." 

"Wait, Robinson? I thought you went out with her last week." Jo jumps in, looking confused. Dean just shrugs. 

"Oh, you sly dog! Thought you wouldn't tell us you've got a real thing going?" Benny stands up to clap him on the shoulder. 

Lisa looks anxiously over at Cas, but he won't meet her eyes. This is one 'I told you so' he'd rather not have. So he stares dejectedly at his comforter. It really is an ugly pattern, he thinks. 

"Well if you're going to bail on us, then get out. Seriously, go." Lisa ushers him to Cas's bedroom door. "Go. Have fun with whatsername." 

Dean, with one last look at Cas, turns and leaves.

"Babe, what was that about?" Benny has a huge paw on Lisa's shoulder. 

"I'm getting a bit tired of Dean's shit, I suppose." Lisa sighs. "Go back to Haloing." Benny nods reluctantly and joins the other girls on the floor. 

Lisa settles on her knees next to Cas. "You alright, honey?" Cas shakes his head. "Want to get out of here?" Cas looks up at her, his wet eyes answer enough. She leans over and kisses him on the cheek. 

"Saw that!" Benny hollers from the television.

"Well, Dean had to bail for a date with his Cassie, I'm bailing for a date with mine." Benny looks vaguely amused. "See you later, fellas." She grab's Cas's hand and pulls him into the hallway.

Cas breaks then, tucking his face into Lisa's shoulder and crying. She rubs his back and mutters things quietly to him. "It's alright, baby, come on, we'll go for a ride, you'll see. It'll be okay." Lisa twines her hand in Castiel's and leads him out to her car. 

Dean's fumbling with his keys. 

"Oh, we thought you had left." Lisa glances disdainfully at him, trying to keep him engaged so he wouldn't notice Cas. 

It didn't work.

"Cas, are you okay? What's wrong?" Dean moves to put a hand on Cas's face but Lisa makes an executive decision to move in front of him. Cas still hasn't looked up from the ground. "Cas, who said something?"

Cas's shoulders shake in something between a laugh and a sob. Lisa pulls him by his hand, which Dean immediately zeroes in on, and tugs him to the car before gently shoving him into the passenger seat.

"Cas! Seriously, Lisa, what's wrong with him?" Dean looks a bit frantic at this point, and tries to go around Lisa to get to Cas. He's stopped by a perfectly manicured hand on his chest.

"Go." Dean hesitantly back up. Lisa turns around and get in the driver's seat. She cranks up and drives away, leaving Dean staring after the car, looking lost. Lisa cranks up the radio. "Put it on whatever station you want, Cas." When he doesn't move, she takes his hand and puts it on the dial. Cas studiously flips channels until he settles on a folksy station. 

They ride in silence for a few minutes before Cas's phone rings. Without taking her eyes off the road, Lisa holds her hand out to Cas. Cas obediently extracts his phone from his pocket and hands it over, only to have it unceremoniously tossed into the back seat. 

"Damn, Cas, your phone is loud. And this music is too calm to cover it up. Do you mind?" When Cas shakes his head, she flips to an upbeat station and cranks the volume up. "So, are you gonna talk to me now, Casanova?" 

Castiel was transported back to the night before, Dean kissing his forehead so tenderly after calling him the same nickname. When he comes back, the car is pulled on the side of the road and Lisa has slid across the bench seat to curl protectively around him. There's a disgusting sobbing sound coming from his own chest. 

"Are you back?" Lisa gingerly takes his hand. He squeezes back. "Thank God. Was it the nickname?" Cas nods. "Thought so. Can you hang on til we get to my place?"

She gets back in the driver's seat and pulls the car back onto the road. She drives a bit recklessly, which makes Cas smile. She's too much, too loud, too happy or too sad, too passionate. And he loves her for it. 

When they get to her house she unlocks the door and goes to the kitchen. Cas walks straight upstairs. When Lisa gets to her room with an armful of snacks and sodas, she finds him face down across her bed. She puts the food on her bedside table, pulls Netflix up on her computer and sets it on an old Audrey Hepburn film she knows Cas loves. They get progressively more tangled over the course of the afternoon, as each naps on and off. At one point, Lisa answers her phone. After listening for a few moments, she just says "Not today." and hangs up. 

Castiel has reached a new low.


	3. Chapter 3

Cas is watching the end of The Hunchback of Notre Dame when a soft knock comes at the door. Benny cracks the door and cracks a smile. 

"Hey, brother. Lisa awake?" Benny acts like seeing his girlfriend in a bed with another guy having a Disney marathon is completely normal. Cas kinda loves Benny.

"She is now." Lisa grumbles from her spot on Castiel's chest. "What's up, babe?" 

"Just came to check on y'all. You left in a hurry. And haven't answered any calls. One fella in particular is worrying my ear off about you two." At this Lisa stands up, grabs her phone, and walks out. Benny sits on the edge of the bed. "You alright, Cas?"

Cas shakes his head. Benny sighs. 

"You know, I've never really understood what he sees in you." Cas meets his eyes apprehensively. "All I see is a quiet, dorky kid who didn't get hit too hard with the ugly stick, but he looks at you like you hung the moon." Benny shakes his head. "He's just a dumbass."

Cas is taken aback at this, and it must show on his face.

"No, not for being a complete sap about you, that's not what I meant. He's a dumbass because he can't even see that he is." Benny drops his eyes apologetically. Lisa walks back in as Benny begins to stand. She raises a takeout bag.

"Benny, did you bring this?" He nods and shrugs. "Thanks, honey. That's very thoughtful of you."

"Do you want to eat with us?" Their heads both whip toward Cas. Lisa glances over at Benny, chewing her lip with a furrow between her brows. 

"If you're sure, I'd love to, brother." Benny says, but looks relieved when Cas nods enthusiastically. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dinner, Benny found some senseless comedies and now they're all, Cas included, laughing so hard their stomachs hurt. Lisa wipes some tears from her eyes and stands. 

"Anyone want some ice cream? I'm going to make a supply run to the kitchen." Cas signs "Candy?" at her. "I dunno, might have some chocolate. Is that okay? And popcorn!" And Cas signs back "good." 

After Lisa leaves, Benny turns to Cas. "Do you talk with her?" He doesn't sound angry, just curious. Cas nods, watching Benny carefully. "Do you talk with him?" He doesn't even need to say who "him" is. Cas looks at his hands. "I hope one day you'll talk with me, brother." Cas looks up and sees only warmth in Benny's eyes.

As Cas opens his mouth to thank him, the door downstairs opens. Lisa's angry "hey!" can be heard clearly, just as clearly as the response. 

"Cas is here, isn't he? Why is his phone off?" 

"Dean, please. I think you need to leave." Lisa's voice turns pleading.

"Not until I see that he's okay!" Something slams against a wall downstairs, and Cas is terrified at the thought that it might be Lisa. Dean bounds up the stairs and down the hall. Benny goes to the door and steps out, closing it behind him. 

"Brother, take a second. Think about what you're doing right now." 

"Benny, let me in. Please." Dean's voice breaks on the last word. "The last time I saw him, he was crying and wouldn't speak to me, and he got in that damn truck with Lisa and I haven't heard from him since." 

Benny, apparently, doesn't move, because Dean calls through the door, "Cas? Are you in there?" Cas begins to hyperventilate. "I hear you in there, come on, Casanova."

"Get the FUCK out of my house!" Lisa screams from the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cas wakes up lying sideways on Lisa's bed with his head in her lap. 

"I texted Anna, told her you were spending the night here." Lisa looks half asleep above him. 

"What happened?" Cas asks, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper. 

"You screamed yourself out and fell asleep. Benny 'escorted' Dean off the property. I sent Benny home. It's two am." 

"Lis, I need to go home." Lisa smiles down at him. 

"You sure, Cas? Want me to come with you?"

"No, but I need a ride home, if that's alright?"

"Of course." They make their way downstairs, Lisa stuffing Cas into one of Benny's coats that had been left behind. The ride back to Cas's is nearly silent, aside from Lisa asking, "Are you sure you want to be alone tonight?" when they pull in. 

As soon as Cas opens the door, Claire runs into the room. "Gabe! Cas is home!" 

"Baby brother! Lisa called. Said that she was declaring tonight Novak Family Mandatory Movie Night. We have The Aristocats or The Aristocats."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cas awakes to the doorbell ringing. He looks up to see Gabriel, Anna, and Claire passed out on his bed. He grins at them, pushing Claire back onto the bed from her precarious spot on the edge. He covers each of them up with throw blankets that are kept in his closet for their giant sleepover. 

Benny, Jo, and Charlie actually cleaned up after themselves surprisingly well. The mattresses were stowed away back in the store room, the video games returned to the shelf. It was almost as if they'd never been there. 

Cas goes to check the door. 

"Hey, Cas." Dean smiles sheepishly.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, uh, can I come in?" Dean shuffles his feet and shoots Cas a hundred-watt smile. 

Cas signs "nonononono" frantically and slams the door in Dean's face. He twists the lock and goes back to his room. 

"Who was at the door, Cassie?" Anna and Gabe are beginning to rouse themselves, but Claire is still out. 

"No one. Salesman. We don't want any." Cas gets odd looks from his siblings. "Whatever. Can we go back to sleep?"

"Sure, Cassie." Gabe says slowly. At this there's more beating on the door, and Gabe looks at Cas even more skeptically. "I'll just go send him away, then. You can go back to bed."

Gabe leaves and goes to the door. After a few minutes, Gabe comes back and hugs Castiel. "Cut your phone back on, Cassie. Anna'll put on another movie and I'll cook pancakes."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone ended up making the pancakes together, even a rather drowsy Claire. They all denied starting the batter war, but they had pancake-mix-covered hair just the same. Clair made a joke that, with their hair colors hidden by batter, they actually could pass as siblings. Castiel laughed harder than he had in a long time, as had the rest of his siblings. 

Just before they sat down to eat, though, Castiel's phone buzzed. So now he is in Gabe's car on the way to a local diner for a "mandatory breakfast date" with the group. He wouldn't be going if he hadn't also gotten multiple begging texts from Lisa. 

As he spots his friends in their regular booth, one of the few that will hold their six-member group, he notices that they all look intensely uncomfortable. Then he sees that there isn't an empty seat for him. 

Charlie, Benny, and Lisa see him come in, and Lisa puts on a forced smile while the other two drop their eyes. The three on the other side of the booth turn around in their seats. Jo is sitting in the wall seat, Dean at the aisle, and--

\--Cassie Robinson in the middle.

Cas freezes in his tracks. Jo turns back to a conversation with Charlie and Cassie and Dean smile at him. Lisa gets up and runs over to him, pulling him into a light hug. 

"I swear no one knew she would be here. Please come sit." Cas looks at her skeptically, but acquiesces. Lisa pulls a chair up to the end of the table, putting him between herself and Dean. Castiel sits awkwardly. 

"Hey, Cas. How's it going?" Dean smiles at him again. Cas shrugs. Jo turns to Cassie.

"So, Dean tells me you work at the law firm in town?" Cassie looks relieved that the awkward silence is over, and rambles about her adventures in reception. 

Soon the entire table is laughing about her story of spilling coffee on the owner of the firm. Cas, still stone faced, turns to Lisa and begins signing furiously.

'Get me out of here!' He's upset and tired and he wants to go home. 

'Please stay.' Lisa signs back. 'Make up with him.' Cas's jaw drops. Lisa had pointed at Dean when she signed "him." Cas looks over to see everyone staring at them. 

"Anything you want to share with the class, guys?" Charlie asks, one eyebrow cocked. 

Cas clenches his teeth. He stands and pushes his chair back, nods to Benny and to Lisa, and walks out. He's twenty feet down the road when he hears someone scream his name. He doesn't turn around. 

Eventually, whoever it is goes back inside the diner. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About a mile down the road, a beat up truck pulls over next him. It's a guy from Cas's math class; he thinks his name is Ash. 

"Castiel, you need a ride?" Cas nods. "Hop in." Cas climbs in the passenger's seat, takes out his phone and types.

'Thank you, I'm supposed to meet Gabe at the boat dock. Didn't have a ride.' Ash reads it and nods. 

"Forgot about the talking thing. But how's it going?" Cas shrugs and looks down. "Not good? That sucks, man. And how'd you end up with no ride?"

Cas shrugs again, looks out the window. "What about Winchester? He's got that sexy chevy, right? Thought he'd drop anything for you." 

When Cas makes no response, verbal or otherwise, Ash stops trying to make conversation. He pulls up to the boat ramp outside of town. 

"Thought you were meeting Gabriel here." Ash says, like he knows Cas lied. "Take care, Castiel." Ash spins the tires in his haste to leave. Cas turns away from the river and walks into the woods. 

After walking a for a few minutes, he comes to the fence. He pulls it back in a corner of one panel and slips under. The sight before him is one he never gets tired of. 

Countless rows of concrete seats stretch down in front of him to a pool deck. The Olympic-sized swimming pool is empty but for the collapsed diving tower and the multitude of fading graffiti. He begins plodding down the steps, gaining speed as he goes. He's flat out running by the time he reaches the deck and vaults over the side of the pool into the shallow end. After taking a moment to stroll around and check out the new drawings, he sits down on the decline from the shallow end to the deep end. 

After a while, Cas tunes out the world. He doesn't know how much time passes before someone peels back the fencing. Castiel watches from his peripheral as the figure pauses before descending the stairs. The figure, now definitely male, walks around the pool deck to step carefully down the stairs. As he walks up, Castiel closes his eyes. The newcomer sits down so close Cas can feel his presence.

"I heard you screaming." Cas opens his eyes slowly, still staring straight ahead. "When I tried to find you at Lisa's. You were screaming like someone had set you on fire and Benny had to carry me out. I broke a picture frame and a vase on the way out from struggling." 

When Cas doesn't answer, Dean continues to ramble. "Benny had to drive me home in the impala because I wouldn't go. He walked all the way back to Lisa's to get his car." Dean looks over at him.

"Listen, Cas, I didn't mean to bail on you for Cassie. I brought her to breakfast so you could see she's a nice girl. I thought you'd talk to me once you saw I had a good thing going." 

Cas meets Dean's eyes. The tears he sees there make Dean's eyes look like light shone through a green glass bottle. He opens his mouth, and Dean's eyes light up, only to close his mouth and raise his hand to his chest. The light dies when Castiel slowly, surely, signs 'I. Am not. Sorry.' 

"Cas, don't you see I am? You won't even talk to me. What did I do to lose your trust like this?" 

"Who." Dean looks up, slack jawed, at Cas.

"Who?"

"Who you did."

Dean looks down, nodding. "Okay." He rubs his hands over his arms. "Okay."

"Okay?" This time Dean doesn't look up at him. 

"I'll break up with her." Cas's eyes grow large. "If you tell me why." Dean looks up, meeting Castiel's gaze steadily. 

Cas holds eye contact for a few more seconds. He looks at his feet. Dean sighs. 

They sit that way for a few minutes, Dean patiently waiting on something Cas won't say. 

Dean stands, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Do you need a ride home?" When Cas doesn't move, Dean leans down and pulls him up. 

He keeps his arm in the bend of Cas's elbow, leading him to the steps and across the pool deck. He keeps his hold up the bleachers and through the fence, all the way back to the impala. he opens his door, gently edges Cas inside, and closes it behind him. 

The only sound on the drive back into town is one of Dean's old tapes. Dean parks in Cas's driveway and cuts off the music. 

"I meant what I said. Tell me why and I'll do it." He looks over at Cas hopefully, like his world rests on Cas's answer. 

Cas gets out of the car, hating the look on Dean's face when he does.

He looks like his heart is breaking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry! I'll try to write the ending tomorrow and post it tomorrow night. Anyone still reading this, ILY.

"Cassie, Jo just called and said she and Charlie are coming over." Anna head pokes through the door. "They said not to tell you." 

"You're good at following directions." Castiel smirks, but his voice is full of love for his sister. She always knows how to curb situations to fit his needs without coddling him. Bless her. "Will you be joining us? I know they're friends of yours, and I don't mind." Castiel offers, knowing how excited his sister is to be included by older kids, even if it's only a year's difference. 

"I'd love to, but Jo seemed anxious. Maybe later, Cassie. I'll let them in when they're here." With a small kiss blown in Cas's direction, Anna leaves. 

Cas goes back to discovering new bands on his Pandora stations, and downloads new stations for Two Door Cinema Club and Ratatat. He waits only a few minutes before a soft knocking is at his door. 

"Come in." The girls come in quietly, sitting on his bed on either side of him, all with their back to the headboard. 

"Something's up with you." Jo says bluntly. Cas flinches.

"And you probably don't want to talk about it..." Charlie fidgets with her bracelets.

"But we do!" Jo says, which gets a huff of breath from a frustrated Charlie.

"What she means to say is, we're here if you want to talk. Because you're obviously not talking to Dean, and we figure you might not be talking to Lisa and you've never really talked to Benny." She says all this in one breath, the words piling upon each other like she's afraid if she doesn't get them out quick they'll get stuck. 

"I did talk to Benny. Sort of." Cas shifts uncomfortably, as he does every time his communication skills, or lack thereof, is brought up. 

"Vocally?" Charlie asks, curious. Jo looks at him excitedly. Cas thinks about how these hardened exteriors hide caring girls. 

"No." Cas hates to disappoint them that way, but Jo just claps him on the knee and beams at him. 

"That's still progress, Cas! Congrats!"

"We're proud of you, but we're getting off topic. What's up with you?" When Cas just shrugs, Charlie continues. "Does it have to do with Dean and Cassie Robinson? Because that's kinda when you lost it both times." Cas just folds his hands and looks down. 

Charlie just sighs and puts a movie on Castiel's "shitty" television and curls back up under his arm. Jo shoots off a few texts and lays across Cas's legs. A moment later Anna opens the door.

"I got an invite?" She asks dubiously. Charlie opens her arms to her, and they curl together. Rusty red mixes with flaming orange as their hair spreads against Cas's bedspread. 

A bit later, Lisa comes in. "Jo told me to get here ASAP, am I still allowed?" She looks anxiously to Cas. When Cas grins at her, she her face lights up, and she's choking back tears. She tumbles into his arms, tucking her face against his chest. "I'm so sorry." Cas just shakes his head and traces a heart on her shoulder with a fingertip. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few movies, countless bags of microwave popcorn, and a couple regrettable SnapChat stories, they're all close to passing out. 

"Cassie, they told me something was up with you and Dean. Are you guys okay?" Anna whispers, but the other girls hear anyway. 

"Lisa..." Cas knows he needs to tell them, but this is too hard to say, especially with so many people. "Lisa."

"It's, uh, Cassie Robinson." Lisa hedges, not knowing how much detail Cas wants to be shared.

"Cas, do you...?" Anna looks between the girls and her brother. 

Cas nods.

Cas suddenly, unexpectedly, has a lapful of crying little sister. "Thank you so much for trusting me with this, it means so much to me." Cas just chuckles and rubs his hand across her back. 

"But, I uh, don't want sex. Ever. It's not like an abstinence thing, or waiting for the right person, I just have to desire for it whatsoever. Ever." Cas knows he's rambling, but he's scared they'll think he's broken, like others think. Like he's thought so often. But the girls seem to take this in stride, Lisa beaming proudly at him. "It's called asexuality. But it doesn't mean I don't want a boyfriend or a girlfriend-- I want the whole relationship thing, but no sex." They just nod some more. They seem lost in their thoughts, each head filled with turning cogs. Anna's, however, as turning so fast they're almost audibly whirring.

She leans back to look at him. "Does he...?" She trails off, looking around at the girls. "Is he?" Lisa and Jo both shake their heads and shrug, but Charlie, terrible liar as she is, breaks eye contact. 

"Charlie?" Cas prompts her. "Is there something you're not saying?" 

"Spill!" Jo taps her on the hip, a more caring version of her usual punch to the shoulder. 

"Yeah, we're all girls here!" Lisa smiles at Cas, who wrinkles his nose back. "What is it, Char?" 

"Well, it was told to me in confidence..." Charlie fiddles with her bracelets. "But Dean came to talk to me a while back." 

Everyone is sitting forward, listening with rapt attention. 

"And I guess," Charlie chuckles, "there's some necessary backstory."

"Go on, Char." Jo gives her an encouraging smile. 

"I'm lesbian?" Charlie looks up. Everyone's jaws drop. They're then put to use congratulating her on coming out. 

"That wasn't the point. But Dean knew--" She's interrupted with a chorus of 'hey!'s "-- and he came to talk to me about it." She stops, chewing her lip and worrying at a dangerously threadbare bracelet.

"Come on, tell us!" Jo taps her side again. 

"Dean asked me if there was a sexuality for liking both genders." 

Cas's room is dead silent.

"He told me he liked girls, but he was finding himself attracted to a guy and it scared him." Charlie's eyes are glued to her Star Wars socks. "He said that he knew that the guy didn't like him back, so Dean decided to drown himself in girls to get over him. He never told me if it worked." 

Cas looks up to see all the girls watching him. He nods at Charlie. "You guys ready to go to sleep?"

They all nodded apprehensively. Cas got the blankets from his closet and passed them out. They came to a silent decision to sleep puppy-pile-style on his bed instead of getting the mattresses out. Lisa layed on his chest, and just before he went to sleep, whispered.

"We're talking about this tomorrow, Cas."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am."


	6. Chapter 6

In the morning, after a repeat of yesterday's pancake affair with Jo, Charlie, Lisa, and Anna as well as Claire and Gabriel, Cas is almost ready for a nap.

As they're picking up the dishes, the kitchen door opens. 

"Save any for me?" Benny's warm voice washes over the kitchen. A chorus of "hey, Benny"s greet him, and Cas hands him a set-aside plate with a smile. "Saw the interpretive dance performance on Lisa's snapchat story and couldn't help myself. Hope ya'll don't mind."

"Of course we don't mind, babe." Lisa appears behind him and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. "What do you guys want to do today? We should all go out!"

And that's how the entire gang--minus Dean, plus Anna, Gabriel, and Claire--end up renting roller skates that are then kidnapped and taken to the empty pool Cas is so fond of. They fit Claire with a helmet and a few pounds of padding and they're off. They're all bundled up in coats and scarves, due to a sudden drop in temperature over the county. After a few hours of falling all over themselves and laughing until their stomachs ache, they all decide to take a break in the bottom of the pool. They're all laying about, lazily laughing, until everyone sitting facing Cas--and the entrance-- freezes. They all exchange worried glances. Claire speaks up.

"Uh, Cassie, is there a back way out of here?" Castiel sits up, ram-rod straight, terrified to look behind him. 

"Who's there?" Cas asks them. "If we're about to get killed, Anna, take Claire and hide under the pool deck, the entrance is through the cabana..." He trails off, seeing his friends are no longer shocked or frightened, but angry. His eyebrows knit together as he turns around. 

Dean Winchester is descending the bleachers. Cas's throat locks up. Lisa pushes off of her knees to pull Cas's face toward hers, trying to getting his rising panic under control. 

"Benny, Gabriel, get him the hell out of here." Lisa commands. 

"No." That's the only coherent word Castiel can form at the moment. "No." She looks at him worriedly. 

"Okay. Okay. They'll stay here. You just need to breathe, okay? Just breathe." Lisa takes her hands off his face and folds his hands into hers. "Breathe, babe."

Cas closes his eyes and feels Lisa shift her position, then senses Benny getting up and walking across the pool deck.

"What brings you here, brother?" Benny asks, his words casual though his voice is cold. 

"I saw the video that Charlie posted of Claire skating... I knew you all had to be here. Without me." Dean sounds like he's been crying to Cas. Perhaps he's just reading too much into it. "Thought I'd come see what you were up to." 

Dean walks past Benny, vaults over the side of the pool, and walks calmly toward the group. He stops beside Cas, squats down to his level. Cas opens his eyes to see Lisa directly in front of him, glaring whole heartedly at Dean. He looks to either side of her, seeing Jo, Charlie, Anna, and even Claire with similar looks on their faces. Gabriel, however, has stood up to his full height of approximately two feet and is trying to look intimidating. 

"Hey, Castiel. I think we should talk." Dean says softly from beside and slightly behind Cas. Lisa looks searchingly at Cas's eyes, raises her eyebrows the slightest bit. Cas nods softly. He stands, squeezing Lisa's hands before releasing them, and walks off. He hears Dean scramble to follow the brisk pace he's set.

He stalks off straight behind the old locker rooms, through old bit of wood and metal that used to be something grand. The pieces of the shattered structure, though, are just a hindrance now. 

Cas winds around the pieces as well as the pines trees as he enters the woods. He walks down with the slope of the land. Castiel uses his preternatural balance skills to slide down an embankment, surfer style, and ducks under a fallen log at the bottom. As he stands back up on the other side, he hears Dean slipping down the embankment behind him and cursing loudly. 

Cas doesn't turn, just keeps walking to the edge of the water. He's around the bend from the boat ramp but he can smell the motor oil from boats frequenting it. Cas sits on the ground and waits patiently. 

After a moment, Dean catches up. "No no, don't go easy on me, mountain man!" Dean bitches before he notices his best friend's expression. He hesitantly drops to his knees directly in front of Cas.

"Please tell me how to make us okay." Dean's eyes are pleading and becoming increasingly damp. "I don't know how to fix this. Please, Cas, help me."

Cas holds eye contact, and as Dean drops his chin to his chest, his shoulders shake once. Castiel reaches for his chin and brings his head back up. 

"Cassie Robinson." It comes out as more of a statement than a question.

"Cas, I already told you--"

"Do you love her?" Dean's eyes refocus on Cas's. He watches him carefully a moment, glances down to the hand still under his chin. He looks back to Cas's eyes with a renewed fire in his own.

"No." He sounds so sure of himself, Cas can't help it. He slides his hand across Dean's jaw and behind his neck, using it to tug him forward. Their lips meet softly, barely a brush. Cas pulls back.

"I don't want to have sex with you." Cas winces at himself, and Dean's jaw drops. 

"I mean, you don't have to, but..." Dean moves to pull away but Cas holds him firmly in place.

"It's not you, I'm asexual. It's a sexual orientation like heterosexual, homosexual-- bisexual -- and it just means I'm not sexually attracted to anyone. But, Dean Winchester, I am hopelessly in love with you and I'd love to go to movies and cuddle and kiss and totally not have sex and to have you as long as you'll have me."

Dean is obviously stunned at Castiel's declaration. 

"That's a pretty good 'why'." Dean comments breathlessly. Cas gives him an annoyed look and Dean laughs. "Okay, I can work with movies and cuddling and kissing and totally not having sex." Dean has always been a charmer.

"I gave you a why, Dean." Cas says pointedly.

"Shit. Shit, okay, give me just a second." Dean stands, walking over a bit on the water's edge and dials. Cas tries to give him privacy, but he overhears Dean just after he breaks up with Cassie. 

"What do you mean my ex?" Dean demands, listening to his cell. "No, no we never--" Dean pauses. "But, yeah. Sorry about this. No hard feelings?" Dean laughs. "Yeah, okay. Take care." 

Cas smiles at how caring Dean is, even with his ex girlfriends. Dean wanders back over and tugs Cas to his feet. Dean initiates the kiss this time, and it's just as sweet as the first. Dean pulls back first. 

"Two years."

"Of?" Castiel prompts.

"I've known I was attracted to you for two years now." Dean's blushing. Castiel intertwines his fingers with Dean's and starts to pull him back up the hill. Dean seems to need to talk, so Cas lets him. "I only realized how far gone I was on you the other day. When you left with Lisa. It really did break my heart to see you cry. And I swear, when I heard you screaming in Lisa's bedroom, it hurt me. My chest hurt so badly I couldn't breathe and I could barely get enough air into my lungs to cry. And then you told me to break up with Cassie and I knew I was wrong, you didn't date--I guess that was the a- asexuality? thing-- but I hoped so much and my dad made me leave today because I was just stalking all of your profiles and moping because you were having fun without me. It kinda broke my heart that you guys all get together just like it's normal when I wasn't there, you know? But I know it was because they knew you were hurting. Jesus, am I an asshole. I still hate myself for making you cry."

Cas stops abruptly. "Don't hate yourself. I was upset because of how much I liked you, because of how amazing you are. How could you hate something so perfect?" Dean pulls them together again, roughly kissing Cas. Dean starts to push harder, pulling Cas to him more aggressively. Cas turns his head to the side and puts his hands on Dean's shoulders.

"Dean, can we wait until we've talked about our boundaries? What is and isn't okay?" Dean goes pale.

"Shit, Cas, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I--" Dean stops mid-sentence as Cas kisses him again. 

"Let's get back to the others."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically the last chapter, but I want to add an epilogue after my finals, so probably in about a week!
> 
> I wanted to leave it pretty open-ended for now, right at the happily ever after, but also show it's going to be a struggle. No relationship is a piece of cake, and Cas's boundaries are just another speedbump for them. They're not going to both just intrinsically know what is and isn't comfortable for them, but they know they can talk about it.
> 
> ~
> 
> SIDENOTE the boat ramp - slash - Olympic sized pool - slash - falling in park is a real place! It's in South Carolina and kicks ass.
> 
> ~
> 
> A giant thank you to anyone who's written comments, bookmarked, or left kudos on this fic. You're the only reason it made it to the end.


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a fluffy one-shot because I really like this AU?
> 
> THIS ONE IS PROBABLY THE END<3

"Dean! We're going to be late!" Cas was beating on Dean's bedroom door with one hand while trying, in vain, to tie his tie. 

"Calm down, babe, it's in my back yard. We won't be late." Dean laughed as he opened his door. "How do I look?" 

Cas was too busy picking his jaw up off the floor to answer. Dean just laughed and tugged him out onto the back porch. 

They greeted Lisa, Benny, Charlie, and Jo and were greeted in return with a chorus of "Finally!"s and lewd accusations about what took them so long. 

Dean sweetly complimented each girl on their formal dresses, and Benny on his suit. Before any could respond, a gaggle of parents flocks over, cameras in hand. 

"Honey, smile! It's your only senior prom!" Ms. Bradbury crooned. 

Dean just laughed and turned to tie Cas's tie. He studiously ignored the flashing lights and camera shutters clicking away next to them. When he finished straightening Cas's tie, he looked up to see his boyfriend's lips tugged upward and his eyes wide and soft. Dean grinned and pulled him in by his (now slightly crooked) neckwear.

Mary coughed softly from beside the two, making them part and blush. "I'll print all of them later but I think you'd like this one." She turned the camera toward them. They shielded their eyes and scanned the small screen, taking in Dean's hands on Cas's tie, Cas's total heart eyes, and Dean's amazed smile that stretches ear to ear. 

"Yeah, mom... This one's a keeper." 

"I hope you're referring to me as well as the photo." Cas huffed without any real heat. Dean just grinned at him again and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey, queers, get over here for the group pictures!" Charlie hollered, waving them over to the stairs. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Cas runs his fingers over the corkboard, still covered in their old photos. While his and Dean's ties and vests had been identical, he had made sure that their colors didn't clash with anyone else's in the group. 

He looks over the cheesy photos of the six of them on the stairs, spaced out so you can see each pair. Then one of his favorites--Dean and Castiel at the top of the stairs, kissing, Benny and Lisa around the middle, kissing, and Lisa and Jo--whose dresses were quite complimentary--kissing. 

The next photo, having been taken directly after the first, showed Charlie leaned over and holding her stomach, mouth wide in her obnoxious laughing, and Jo blushing deeply with a hand covering her smile. The other two couples are in various states of shock. 

Castiel chuckles, moving to the next photo. It's Lisa on Cas's back. She's laughing carelessly, brown curls spilling across his shoulder and down his chest. He's leaned at a precarious angle from the force of her surprise attack, laughing as hard as she is. He should really make a copy of this for her birthday next month, he thinks. 

Then he moves to his favorite photo set. Dean studiously working on tying Cas's tie, brow furrowed in concentration. Cas with hopeless adoration painted plainly on his face. Dean looking up with a grin at said adoration. Dean pulling him in by the tie for an unexpected kiss- you can tell by the comical look on Cas's own face in the photograph- and finally Dean with one hand on the tie, one on Cas's hip and Cas with one hair on the back of his beautiful boyfriend's neck and the other in his carefully styled hair. At that moment, said beautiful boyfriend bustles in the dorm room door in approximately twenty layers of clothing.

"Babe, what are you doing here? You have that Psych class in ten minutes, and you know Professor Moseley locks the doors as soon as class starts--" Dean's cut off by Castiel's lips on his. 

"What was that for?" Dean asks, smiling softly at Cas wonderingly. 

"I love you." Cas says simply. 

"I love you too, Casanova."


End file.
